The present invention relates to a cultivation apparatus for growing and cultivating vegetables whose sprouts are edible such as sprouting beans, Kaiware radish and alfalfa in a commercial base.
As one of the apparatuses for cultivating these sprouting vegetables, there has been utilized an apparatus in which seeds of sprouting vegetable are charged in a rotary drum which is rotated at a very low velocity or intermittently, and water is intermittently sprayed onto the seeds to grow the sprouting vegetables.
It is very important for growing sprouting vegetables satisfactorily and for rendering them as vegetables of high quality to carry out water spraying uniformly and further to give water in a properly regulated state in answer to the growing conditions of the sprouting vegetables.
In a conventional apparatus, a sufficient quantity of water can be sprayed onto sprouting vegetables in the vicinity of water spraying nozzles, but it is impossible to carry out water spraying uniformly in a rotary drum, because water spraying is carried out from a water spray pipe fixedly attached to the rotary drum.
Furthermore, in a conventional apparatus in which a water spray pipe is fixedly arranged in a rotary drum, sprouting vegetables in the rotary drum collide with the water spray pipe upon rotation of the rotary drum so that seeds and their hulls partially clog its water spraying holes, thus obstructing uniform water spraying. There is another conventional apparatus in which a perforated plate is provided around its water spray pipe so as to prevent collision of sprouting vegetables with the water spray pipe when the water spray pipe is rotated together with the rotary drum. In this apparatus, however, uniform water feeding is hindered and it will be difficult to carry out the regular feed of water.
The present invention provides a sprouting vegetable cultivation apparatus of a novel structure without having such defects as observed in conventional apparatuses, in which the sprouting vegetables of high quality can be harvested.